Story Teller | CEO | Traveler

Social Media and Customer Service

Recently I received this email from Matt Peters and it got me thinking…

…when we strip away the technology and the tools (like twitter, facebook, 4square etc.) and look at the “social” part of the term “social media” – aren’t we really talking about really, excellent customer service?

Maybe that’s the beauty of it – we’ve got all of this software at our fingertips that lets us communicate on a variety of channels – but in the end, what we’re doing is relating in a way that is really just a throwback to the days when handshakes sealed a deal and a person’s word was bond, and you did right by someone because it was the way business should be done. There’s an honor in that. Business becomes personal and the relationships between customer and company become something person to person.

Maybe those days only really existed in a romanticized memory of times before us, but in the here and now, we’re able to it; which is why I think it works so well….

Is he on the right track? Yes, I think so. Matt’s business (retail/internet sporting good) is vastly different from my B2B software business. Or is it? I say not so much when factoring in the “social” in social media. In the past six months it is not uncommon for me to communicate with clients, partners and prospective clients via social media channels like Twitter, Facebook and the comments section of this blog.

Retail sector users like Matt will have more frequent and numerous social media conversations with customers. That’s only logical I have less customers I count on for my annual revenue. It’s also more likely retail sector social media users will keep a higher percentage of the customer communication in the public space of social media channels. Much of my client communication is either client specific or not for public consumption (unannounced software development projects).

Social media tools have allowed me to provide better customer service to those customers who chose to also participate in the space. These same tools also have the ability to be a great distraction and time drain if you allow them to be thus negating many of the benefits that can be realized.

I’m by no means a social media expert, so please chime in and let me know your thoughts? What have I missed?